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Merchant Fleets of the World 1877.During the 1800s, many entrepreneurs managed ships sailing in and out of San Francisco carrying goods and passengers to Pacific Coast cities and up and down inland waterways from the City to Sacramento.

Among them were William E. Mighell, George E. Plummer, Jacob Jensen, Joseph Knowland, J.S. Kimball, Lorenzo E. White, George Howes & Co., Capt. Asa M. Simpson, Samuel Blair, G.A. Meiggs, John Rosenfeld, Nicholas Bichard, J. D. Spreckels & Bros.

In addition, whalers and other fishing operations sailed in and out of San Francisco. Several of the more notable companies follow.

By 1878-1877, The United States had 7,249 vessels moving 2,390,521 tons of merchandise.

July 7, 1889, Daily Alta California, San Francisco
The general shipping and commission business of San Francisco is one of great magnitude and vast importance; in fact, the welfare of the coast is in a great measure dependent upon it. There is no line of business that is represented by a stronger financial backing than is possessed by the numerous firms engaged in this line in this city.

Alaska Steamship Company

January 26, 1895, San Francisco Call, San Francisco, California

New Alaska Steamship Company

Alaska. 1800s.

Denver, January 25 -- articles of incorporation were filed with the Secretary of State yesterday by the Alaska Steamship and Exploration Company

July 15, 1900, Los Angeles Herald, Los Angeles, California

Lynn Liner at Seattle

Seattle. July 14.—Steamer Dolphin, Captain John O'Brien, the new Lynn liner, arrived in port yesterday morning, completing her long voyage from New York, where she was purchased last spring by the Alaska Steamship Company.

January 30, 1912, San Francisco Call, San Francisco, California

TONNAGE RATE IS CUT BY STEAMER COMPANY

Alaska.

SEATTLE, August 29. — Reductions ranging from $1 to $3 per ton and covering all commodities were announced here yesterday by C. J. Jones, traffic manager of the Alaska Steamship company, to apply to business from getting to southeastern Alaska. The Pacific Coast Steamship company, its officials say, will undoubtedly make corresponding reductions. Other steamship owners with the exception of the Humboldt Steamship company, which did not advance with the others, are expected to take similar action.

American-Hawaiian Steamship Company (1899-1919)

This line was not a passenger line; however, it was the largest single fleet of freighters under the American flag during its years of operation, with trade between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the Territory of Hawaii. When the United States entered World War I in the spring of 1917, about 25 per cent of the deadweight tonnage of large sea-going freighters under U. S. registry was owned by American-Hawaiian. The American-Hawaiian Steamship Company carried cargos of sugar from Hawaii to the United States and manufactured goods back to Hawaii.

October 27, 1901, New York Times: PHILADELPHIA, Penn., Oct. 26. -- It was reported to-day in maritime circles that an arrangement has been effected between the Panama Railroad Company and the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company, now plying between New York and Philadelphia and San Francisco and the Hawaiian Islands, by which the cargoes will be transferred at the Isthmus to the railroad.

California, Oregon and Mexican Steamship Co.

Ben Holladay took over the Pacific Mail Steamship Company coastal trade in 1861 when Pacific Mail decided to concentrate on its trans-Pacific service. While Holladay is best known for starting the Concord Stagecoach to the West, during the 1860s Holladay established headquarters in an office at the corner of California and Liedesdorff streets in San Francisco to run his California, Oregon & Mexico Steamship Company.

September 28, 1888, Daily Alta California, San Francisco

The Newbern's Sailing Date

The steamship Newbern of the California and Mexican Steamship line will not sail today as previously announced, but will leave tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock from Steuart street wharf. The Newbern will touch at Ensenada, San Jose del Cabo, Mazatlan, La Paz and Guaymas.

California Fruit and Meat Shipping Company

April 13, 1877, Daily Alta California, San Francisco

California Fruit and Meat Shipping Company

The Convention of fruit and stock men of California and Nevada, whose proceedings nave been reported in the Alta, met yesterday at the Grangers' Building, 40 California street. The organization of the proposed shipping company was further perfected by the drafting and subscribing of articles of incorporation. The name of the corporation is " The California Fruit and Meat Shipping Company." Term of incorporation, fifty years. Capital stock, $500,000, in fifty thousand shares. The purposes for which the Company is formed are: to deal in all kinds of fruit, meat and fish, and produce of every character, and general merchandise, as factor and principal ; together with doing business of transportation, forwarding and commission agency. Principal place or business, San Francisco.

Ten thousand four hundred and eighty shares of the capital stock were subscribed for, representing $104,860.

The following officers were chosen: President, John Cashin of Nevada City; Vice President J Earl of Oakland; Secretary B. B. Norton of Reno, Treasurer J. D. Blanchar of San Francisco.

A Committee on Auditing and Finance was appointed, consisting of Wm. Johnson of Richland; Chas. Grove of Vallejo; and W. S. Bailey of Virginia City.

A Committee was appointed to wait on the railroad officials to make terms for the use of the track for the cars of the corporation . . . Sheep men in the San Joaquin Valley are also willing to contribute more sheep than the company can reasonably expect to ship within the year. One man writes that be has not sold a wether for three years; has plenty of sheep but no money. It is to be hoped that this enterprise will increase his bank account. It is likely that the first slaughterhouse for sheep will be built at Merced. The company will have their work well in hand in a few days.

California Shipping Company

The California Shipping Co. was organized by William A. Mighell of San Francisco, who became president and manager of the firm. In 1863, Mighell purchased the Monterey, a steam screw tug, which was built as Monitor in 1862 by Eden Landing, San Francisco, Calif.; purchased by the Navy from William Mighell 20 April 1863; renamed Monterey 18 May 1863: and placed in service the same day. In 1900, The California Shipping Co. was rated as the most extensive owner of sailing vessels in the world.

California Steam Navigation Company

The Company initially focused its operations to bay and river runs in the San Francisco area. In 1858, as the result of the Fraser River Gold Rush in British Columbia, the company entered the coastal service with runs to ports north of San Francisco. Their initial ships included the Pacific and Brother Jonathan. By 1865, California Steam had become known for its disregard of human life where profits were involved, but it was doing a handsome business between San Francisco, Victoria and Puget Sound. Freight piled up on the San Francisco docks faster than the line's coastwise steamers could haul it north. The aging Brother Jonathan was crammed with freight until her holds bulged . . . then more was piled on deck. Captain Samuel De Wolfe informed the company's agent that the steamer was being dangerously overloaded; the agent responded that if he was too timid to take the Brother Jonathan to sea, there were a dozen jobless captains who would do so. Two days later enroute to Portland from San Francisco, during a heavy gale the Brother Jonathan struck St. George Reef (near Crescent City) and sunk, taking at least 166 persons with her to the bottom.

The Brother Jonathan's sister ship, the Pacific, lasted until 1875. When she went, the toll was even more shocking.

On November 4, at ten at night, with 230 passengers, the Pacific was heading from Victoria to San Francisco when she rammed the square-rigged ship Orpheus. The blow was not heavy, but the old Pacific fell apart at the seams and sank in minutes. The Orpheus' was somewhat damaged, did her crew not realize the condition of the Pacific. Only two survivors were picked up from the wreck of the Pacific, and one of the two died from shock and exposure.

Cole & Nagle

George D. Nagle left Sydney, Australia on the barque Gloucester for San Francisco on May 31, 1850.

Both he and Thomas Cole were members of the Society of California Pioneers as noted in the Daily Ad for Cole and Nagle vessels to Sydney March 15, 1853.Alta California, July 3, 1886. (Mrs. Nagle and Mrs. Cole were frequently in San Francisco's society columns, including "Society in Oakland" and George Nagle is frequently in news relating to political matters.)

Numerous sailings were listed in the Daily Alta California in 1852 under the names of Cole & Nagle, i.e.

The May 31, 1852 Daily Alta California lists several vessels cleared under Cole & Nagle's auspices: May 19, the barque Don Juan, Captain Sears, for Sydney with 80 passengers; the Brig Orleans, Captain Leetch, for Manzanilla; May 27 the brig China, Captain Frost, cleared for ports in the pacific.

October 16, 1852, Daily Alta California, San Francisco

Emigration to Australia

Since the discovery of gold in Australia the emigration from this State has been very great and is rapidly increasing. All the fine vessels put up for those ports have readily obtained a complement of passengers, and now the transportation of passengers has become an important and regular trade. Messrs. Cole & Nagle of this city have despatched vessels semi-monthly, and they inform us that the emigration has been very large and is increasing beyond expectation. A large portion of those who have gone are Americans who, fond of a roving life, and loving excitement, have gone to this El Dorado merely to prospect and see what is to bo seen. The trade has become so important that Messrs. Cole & Nagle have determined to fit out a first class steamer, which will probably leave either on the 1st or 15th of next month. We were shown letters from the mines to these gentlemen stating that there was a large number of persons anxious to go, and that if any opportunity was afforded to go by a steamer, there would be no difficulty in securing for her in a short time a full load of passengers. We understand that it is the intention of parties to charter the splendid steamer New Orleans for this purpose. This steamer has been laid up for some months undergoing a complete and thorough system of repairs. Her engine has been taken to pieces, cleansed and put in the most perfect order, and the vessel overhauled throughout, and several important improvements made in her accommodations. The distance in round numbers to Sydney we are told is about two thousand miles, and that such a steamer as the New Orleans, without accident, would be able to make the passage at the farthest in twenty-fire days. The vessel would stop at Tahiti, where coals could be. procured and fresh supplies of provisions and water laid in. The day is not far distant, nor does it require a great stretch of imagination to see it, when a line of steamers will be plying regularly to the Australian ports. That is a fixed fact, and we should be proud to see San Francisco take the first steps in this great enterprise. Australia will throw off the yoke in a short time, and give her citizens a better opportunity to develop her great mineral and agricultural resources. The trade between the two countries will be immense when they are brought within less than a month's time of each other by a line of excellent steamers.

November 1, 1852, Daily Alta California, San Francisco

Steam to the Colonies.

EDITORS ALTA CALIFORNIA: -- In your issue of to-day appears a premature statement, calculated to injure the sailing vessels laid on at present for the Colonies. You state that a first-class steamer will be laid on by Messrs. Cole and Nagle, and that the steamer must of course out rival every thing in the expedition of her voyage.

A steamer is not required to make the passage to Sydney at all. Good sailing vessels have performed the voyage in 38 and 42 days -- a distance of 7000, not 2000 miles, and the only steamer which has left this port for Sydney took 75 days. A trade wind exists the whole way, or until near the coast.

As Messrs. Cole & Nagle have not absolutely chartered any steamer yet for this purpose, I should recommend persons intending to visit those interesting colonies to stick to the canvas, and leave Messrs. Cole & Nagle the enjoyment of the smoke. Your ob't serv't,

Joseph H. Scrutton, Semi-monthly Packet Office, Front Street

Little is in the newspaper after that date and Cole & Nagle are not noted in the more prominent books covering shipping and captains of the mid-to-late 1800s. By December 1852, the New Orleans was steaming between San Francisco and Panama under Captain Wakeman's command; she arrived in San Francisco on December 15, 1852.

P. B. Cornwall

In 1877, Pacific Mail Steamship Company sold the wooden side-wheeler Great Republic to P. B. Cornwall. The Great Republic, built on Long Island in 1866, was a huge ship for her type (378 feet long, registered at 3,882 tons, constructed of copper-fastened white oak), she was going out of style. P. B. Cornwell, a California pioneer, brought her at a bargain price.

Cornwell doesn't seem to have had a formal shipping line and he initially planned on using the Great Republic, but not actually operating her. However, the Pacific Coast and Oregon Steamship companies balked, so Cornwall started up the Great Republic's steam boilers and set up low San Francisco to Portland fares ($7 first class; $2 steerage) and freight rates ($1.50/ton). When the established lines countered by lowering their rates, Cornwell took his even lower and he actually made money because it turned out that coastal travel was even cheaper than boarding room rates. Cornwall's enterprise terminated on mid-April of 1879 when the Great Republic attempted to take the ship over the Columbia Bar at night rather than wait for dawn. The Great Republic didn't clear; she straddled the bar. All 500 cabin and 346 steerage passengers were safely received in Astoria, but the combination of high tides and a series of spring storms tore her to pieces.

The Dollar Steamship Company

Robert Dollar was born in 1844 in Falkirk, Scotland. He moved to Canada in 1857. It is also reported that by the time he was 11 he was a shore boy in a lumber camp where he endured many hardships. Perhaps this was back in Scotland. In 1893 Dollar purchased a sawmill on the Pacific coast of the United States, and his lumber business grew. He had a son, Stanley Dollar who left school at 13 and worked in his father's lumber office.

Memoirs of Robert Dollar

University of Michigan Library (1917)

In 1893 or 1895 he acquired his first vessel, a single steam schooner called Newsboy from the recently bankrupt Navarro Mill, to move his lumber from the Pacific northwest to markets down the coast and in the process they established the Dollar Steamship Company. The new company had a fleet of schooners, presumably moving lumber from the owners' interests to the markets. In 1902, Dollar Steamship Company moved into international shipping running a chartered voyage to Yokohama and the Philippines.

In 1906-7, Dollar purchased a property at San Rafael, California which he renamed Falkirk. He lived here for the rest of his life and today the house is the Falkirk Museum. In 1923 he purchased seven ex World War 1 "502 President type" liners from the US Shipping Board. In March 1925 Dollar took over an additional eight "535 President type" liners from the Shipping Board but managed by Pacific Mail Steamship Company in Trans Pacific work. The cost was $5,625,000. Even though this bid was a million dollars lower than Pacific Mail's bid, it was 100% cash whereas the latter's was cash and stock. It was decided that the Pacific Mail bid did not meet the terms of the tender and thus, Dollar Steamship Company gained itself $30 million worth of ships and was now able to start a westbound around the world service. The ships continued to be used on the Trans Pacific service. As would be expected, this hit the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. bad and in 1925 it was taken over by Dollar. In addition, the Admiral Oriental Line went bust and it was also now part of the Dollar Steamship Company. The Dollar Steamship Co. was now one of the most profitable shipping companies in the world but the approaching depression was to be affected. The name of the company changed in 1929 to Dollar Steamship Line Inc. Ltd.

Empire Transportation Company/International Navigation Company

April 24, 1898, Burlington Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa, U.S.A.

To Alaska

We have before us the prospectus of the Empire Transportation Company. The company will operate a line of steamers between the Pacific coast and Alaska ports and also a fleet of vessels on the Yukon river to the gold fields. The Empire Transportation Company us owned by the International Navigation Company, better known as the American Line, between New York and Southampton and Philadelphia and Liverpool, and the Red Star Line, between New York and Antwerp and Philadelphia and Antwerp. The steamers employed in the Alaskan service have been in the Trans-Atlantic service and are the well known steamers Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and Conemaugh: the Yukon river boats are especially built for this service and carry passengers and freight through to the gold fields.

The Empire Transportation Company being under the management of the International Navigation Company is an assurance of responsibility and good service. The representative for Burlington and vicinity is Mr. Charles Sponholtz, to whom all should apply who desire further information.

June 15, 1898, Los Angeles Herald, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Steamers for Alaska

Owing to the government taking possession of the steamers Ohio and Indiana of the Empire line, operated by the International Navigation company, the schedule for this company's steamers leaving for Alaska and the gold fields has been changed as follows: The Pennsylvania, leaving July lflth and August 13th; the Conemaugh, leaving July 23d and August 20th.

Goodall - Perkins

Fears for the Senator San Francisco, Oct. 20. The Chronicle says: There is little cause for alarm at present over the fact that possibly the United States transport Senator with the lowa troops aboard encountered a typhoon shortly after leaving Yokohama, according to marine men and the owners of the steamer. The fact that the Empress of India did not sight the transport and was herself caught in the typhoon is not regarded as ominous for the Senator. In fact, the army officers and both members of the firm of Goodall, Perkins & Co., the owners, are firm in their belief that the Senator will arrive on Monday, as scheduled, or at the most not later than Tuesday. The Senator is built of steel and cost $300,000. She is only two years old and is one of the staunchest vessels on the Pacific coast.

Humboldt Shipping Lines

 

Matson Shipping Lines

In 1876, Captain William Matson came to San Francisco around Cape Horn as a sailor on the ship Bridgewater. Matson soon commanded scow schooners carrying coal from Mt. Diablo Mines to the Spreckels sugar refinery in San Francisco.

Matson Navigation Company's association with Hawaii began in 1882, when Captain William Matson sailed his three-masted schooner Emma Claudina from San Francisco to Hilo, Hawaii, carrying 300 tons of food, plantation supplies and general merchandise. He next took command of a larger schooner carrying sugar from the Hawaiian Islands. After building a brigantine, Lurline, he bought other sailing vessels.

In 1901, Captain William Matson purchased the American steamship Enterprise, and began loading for Hilo. The Enterprise was the first offshore ship in the Pacific to burn oil instead of coal.

His acquisitions turned into the Matson company, which still plies the world's seas. More on Captain Matson.

Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company

Formed in 1874 by the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad to operate trans-Pacific passenger services in competition with Pacific Mail. Although based in San Francisco, their ships were all chartered, mostly from the White Star Line and flew the Red Ensign. By the early 1900s, intense competition particularly from Japanese owners caused trade to decrease and the company's last voyage took place in 1905.

Oceanic Steamship Company

July 7, 1889, Daily Alta California, San Francsico

John D. Spreckels & Bros.

The firm of John D. Spreckels and Bros., was incorporated in 1880. It consists of the three brothers John D., Adolph B. and C. August. The firm was the largest shipping and commission business in San Francisco. They are agents for the Hawaiian Sugar & Commercial Co., Hakalau Plantation Co., Hutchinson Sugar Plantation Co., and the firm of Messrs. W. G. Irwin &. Co. Besides they control nearly a dozen other sugar plantations and handle one-half of the Hawaiian Islands.

Oceanic Steamship Line 1889.They are principal owners in the Oceanic Steamship Co., and have four steamers in the service between San Francisco and the British Colonies of New Zealand and New South Wales, having the contract for carrying the mails between these points. The Oceanic S. S. Company also owns five and the Spreckels owns three sailing vessels, all of which are engaged in the sugar trade.

In connection with their colonial trade the Spreckels Brothers are agents for the Union S. S. Co., of New Zealand, a wealthy corporation, with a large and extended business, and also for Cowlishaw Bros., of Newcastle. They also import about 200,000 tons of coal annually, for Pacific Coast requirements, the bulk of which is received from Newcastle in New South Wales. The firm is also agent for several large sugar and coffee plantation owners in Central America. The firm also holds the agency of the Union Insurance Co. (Marine) of Canton, and the Standard Marine Insurance Co., of Liverpool.

As individuals, the various members of the firm are also interested in the California Sugar Refinery, which has a capacity of 500 tons daily; in the Watsonville Beet Beet Sugar Factory, which has an output of 4000 tons of sugar yearly, and in the Occidental Beet Sugar Co., which has just been incorporated with a capital of $5,000,000 for the erection of a dozen more beet sugar factories throughout the State of California.

The whole of the vast shipping and commission business is managed by the eldest brother, and head of the firm, Mr. John D. Spreckels. The youngest brother, Mr. C. A. Spreckels, manages the California Sugar Refinery business, while Mr. A. B. Spreckels is now in Philadelphia managing the new Spreckels Refinery in that city.

Ships running during the 1800s included:

Vessel Year Built
Alameda1883
Anna1881
Australia1875
Claus Spreckels1879: Built in San Francisco
Consuelo1880
Emma Augusta1867
John D. Spreckels1880
Mariposa1883
Rosario1879
Selina1883
Suez1876
W. H. Dimond1881
William G. Irwin1881
Zealandia1875

Pacific Coast Steamship Company

Pacific Coast Steamship Company sailings April 13, 1877.The Pacific Coast Steamship Company (PCSC) was founded in 1875 (a Monterey site indicates they were going in and out of Monterey in 1870, but there is nothing else to substantiate this).

(Ad: Daily Alta California, April 13, 1877)

Ads in the Daily Alta California and Oakland Tribune in the late 1880s indicate that the line was owned by Goodall and Perkins.

This passenger and freight company was based on Beale Street in San Francisco. They shipped a variety of cargo such as vegetables, grain, lumber, coal and iron, and boasted modern, luxurious facilities for their passengers. In 1870, the Pacific Coast Steamship Company constructed the wharf at Monterey for regular passenger and freight service. In the early 1890s, the name Pacific Coast Steamship Company gained permanent resonance, until the demise of the company in 1936. The company travelled routes from Alaska to San Diego, and included stops in many ports along the west coast of the United States, Canada and Mexico. This was a large company that employed over two dozen ships.

November 25, 1886, Daily Alta California, San Francisco

Pacific Coast Company's Steamers.

The Ancon has been thoroughly refitted and repaired and has been put in service in the Pacific Coast Steamship Company's southern line between this port and San Diego, taking the place of the George W. Elder. The Elder, after being overhauled, will run on the Oregon route.

January 22, 1904, Oxnard Courier, Oxnard, California

LUMBER RATE WAR SEEMS ASSURED

A recent San Francisco dispatch says: "The lumber war between the Pacific Steamship company and the steam schooner owners of this coast is now being waged in earnest. The first step has been taken by the Pacific Coast Steamship company, and today it carried out its threat of entering the lumbering business on this coast when it chartered the schooner Willis A. Holden to carry a cargo of lumber from Everett to San Pedro. The Willis A. Holden is one of the largest schooners on this coast and will carry 1,300,000 feet of lumber.

The schooner will carry the first cargo of lumber to be taken to the newly established yard of the Pacific Coast Steamship company at San Pedro. For the past few months agents of the company have been investigating the lumber lumber situation in the southern part of the State, and as a result of their favorable report, the steamship company is now entering the lumber business. The announcement that the Pacific Coast Steamship company has chartered the schooner Willis A. Holden to engage in the lumber trade will come as a surprise to the steam schooner owners of the city as it has been confidently stated by lumbermen at this port that the Pacific Coast Steamship company is only trying to bluff the steam schooner owners into quitting the passenger transportation business.

It was several months ago that the Pacific Coast Steamship company announced its intention of competing with the steam schooner owners in the lumber carrying business unless they desisted from cutting into the passenger traffic of the Pacific Coast Steamship company. The steam schooner owners laughed at the proposition at the time, stating that the steamship company was only making idle threats. Now, however, that the Pacific Coast people have shown their hand, the steam schooner owners will combine to fight their rival and a rate war will likely result. The Pacific Coast Steamship company's officials state that they will go further in competing with the steam schooner owners. It is their intention to build six steam schooners which will ply in the coast lumber trade, and they will be established all through the southern part of the state, and the lumber will come from the properties of the company in the North.

Pacific Mail Steamship Co.

Advertisement for Pacific Mail Steamship Company April 1877.Founded in 1848 by William Aspinwall of the firm of Howland and Aspinwall to execute a contract to carry mail from the Isthmus of Panama to the newly-annexed territory of California. Fortuitously for Aspinwall and his fellow investors, Pacific Mail was accidentally but ideally positioned to cash in on the Gold Rush of 1849.

(Ad right: Daily Alta California, April 13, 1877)

December 1, 1852, Daily Alta California, San Francisco

The Pacific Mail Company's Iron Works and Machine Shops at Benecia.

Pre-eminent amongst the great enterprises of improvement, embracing the practical and useful arts, that in our State's isolation supply the resources to sweep away the obstacles to a rapid growth, and attain lor her a proud and independent position, may be classed the very extensive Iron and Steam Works just completed by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company at their Benecia Depot.

These works, the site of which was obtained by an extensive excavation in the hillsides immediately in the rear of their depot, face the Straits of Carquinez, standing out in bold relief. The passer-by is struck by their grandeur and beauty, and impressed most deeply with the high order of their architectural design and finish, no less than with their great intrinsic merits and usefulness. They comprise two buildings of brick, occupying a front of 285 feet, with a depth of 140 feet; two stories high, with walls 16 inches thick; and have been erected at an outlay of about $100,000. It is contemplated that the machinery and appurtenances, all complete and ready to place this project in operation, will cover another $100,000.

Pacific Mail Line. The larger building fronts 130 feet, having a deep court-yard in the rear, enclosed by two wings the one 140 feet deep by 40 feet wide, the other 125 feet deep, with the same width. This last building contains, in its centre, all the offices and store rooms with the drafting apartment; in its left wing, the pattern and boiler shops; in its right wing, the machine shop; and in front, the finishing room above, and the blacksmith shop back. The smaller building is separated from the main by a space of 32 feet, and is 103 feet front by 75 feet deep. This contains the foundry, cove ovens, crane, etc.

Machinery and boilers of any size will here be constructed cylinders with all the heavy pieces of machinery required for a first class steamer patterned, cast, finished and put up.

In their perfectness in all departments and in their extent, the aim has been to furnish not only to the Mail Company, but to the public, to all who may come, the means of supplying wants in all kinds of machinery, whether for use, afloat or onshore; to establish iron and steam works on a scale of magnitude, falling little short of the celebrated "Novelty Iron Works," New York, and to accomplish for California and the Pacific, in the application of steam to commercial and all other useful purposes, the same ends that those famous works have for the Atlantic Ocean, and indeed, for the world at large.

Their architectural design was by Mr. Reuben Clark, assisted by Mr. John Sime, their builder, and have at their Head Mr. W. D. Niles, for many years foreman in the Novelty Iron Works, and for the past three, the efficient and able Superintendent Engineer of the Pacific Mail S. S. Company.

The extensive wharf accommodation, now being constructed by this Company will create an outlay of fifty thousand dollars more thus covering, in its improvements at this point alone, at the present time, a quarter of a million of dollars.

October 5, 1854, Sacramento Daily Union, Sacramento, California

Consolidation-Combination

Combination of capital in Steamship, Railroad find Stage Companies, seems to be the order of the day. Capital combines monopolies professedly to protect itself against itself but, really, for the purpose of securing a certain annual interest, or, in plain terms, to force the community to pay for the use of this capital an amount of interest per month that will satisfy its owners.

The latest combination is that of the P. M. S. S. Co. and the Nicaragua Co., to buy of Vanderbilt and the Independent Line, raise the price of passage, and divide the proceeds between the two lines. The two first propositions have been effected. Vanderbilt is to be paid $900,000 $800,000 for his three boats, the Uncle Sam, Yankee Blade and North Star an , enormous price and is then to be paid $100,000 upon his entering into bond that he will not put another imposition line upon either the Panama or Nicaragua routes. This $100,000, and the over price paid for the three steamers, are to be paid, of course, by the passengers to and from California by an increase of fare. Consequently, the fare has been raised to $800, first cabin $300, first cabin; $250, second cabin, and $150 in the steerage. These prices are to continue for one year.

As an offset to this increase of fare, we are to have weekly steamers and a weekly mail, an arrangement which, for the interest of each company, should have been made two years ago.

Weekly steamers will prove a decided accommodation, but the heavy increase in the price of fare will prevent many a family from emigrating to California. It will exert a powerful influence against the increase of population in California, without a corresponding benefit, except in adding to the profits of these mammoth steamship companies.

Pacific Mail Steamship Company Ad. As a result of this and the high quality of its service, the company became both an important part of the history of the American West as well as one of the most profitable enterprises of its era, with an annual return on investment that ran as high as 30%. Within five years of its inception, the company was running 18 steamers and it peaked at 23 in 1869, the year that the transcontinental railroad neared completion.

In 1861, Pacific Mail Steamship Company began concentrating on its trans-Pacific service. It sold its northern line to the California, Oregon and Mexican Steamship Company.

January 26, 1892, San Francisco Call, San Francisco

The Lost Granada's Cargo.

The Pacific Mail Steamship Company has filed an answer in sixty-eight suits against it for freight lost by the wrecking of the steamer Granada near Manzanillo on the Mexican coast on June 22, 1889. These suits call for the payment of about $6000. The company's defense is that the ship was not lost through the carelessness of its servants and that it cannot, therefore, be held responsible for the loss of the freight.

For a time, the line survived on subsidized mail contracts to Australia and New Zealand, but when it lost those it was soon forced to accept a takeover by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in 1893.

In February 1901, Pacific Mail Steamship's City of Rio de Janeiro sank in an early morning fog when entering San Francisco Bay taking down the ship, captain, and an estimated 130 passengers, dozens of crew and cargo.

In 1912, Congress banned ships owned by railroads from using the Panama Canal, so Southern Pacific sold PMSS to the Grace Line, which operated it as a subsidiary under its traditional house flag from 1916-25. It was then taken over by Robert Dollar & Co., which merged PMSS into its own operation, although it, too, continued to use the old name and flag on occasion.

With the government bail-out of the Dollar Line in 1938, ownership passed to American President Lines, but by this time PMSS essentially existed only on paper. It was formally closed down in 1949 after just over a century of existence.

The People's Line

From New York to Nicaragua; cross the Isthmus to connect with a steamship headed North to San Francisco.

December 18, 1863, California Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences

The People's Line of Steamers.

Aspinwall and Nicaragua Steamers, 1862.

We learn that a brisk and earnest, competition is now intended on the New York route, and in a fast way of its completion. The steamship America, of 2,500 tons burden, for this side, will leave New York on the 23d of December, and will be due here the 10th January, next. She will stop at Panama, for passengers, and then proceed to this port. The Retribution, a splendid steamer of 3,300 tons, equal to the Golden City, is now rapidly finishing and will leave New York in January.

The new America and the Moses Taylor are intended for this side. The new Retribution and the Illinois will run from New York to Panama. The length of time that this line will run on the Panama route, is uncertain.

One thing is certain, however; a vigorous, able and earnest competition will be kept up on the Peoples' Line, for the people. Nothing has as yet been definitely settled by the United States Government relative to the rights of a National highway, yet our Government are determined it soon shall be.

The moment this is done the People's Line will return lo the Nicaragua route, and press on in their determination to win the favor of the great Public to the Peoples' Line. Mr. Roberts is constantly at work to devise ways and means to advance the quickest and most safe way for the immigration of the people to our shores, and that is what California wants we want population, and those who labor for cheap fares and a quick passage will be sure to secure the people's patronage. One thing is certain, the new steamers added to this Line are certain to make the Line equal to any for safety, speed and accommodations.

April 8, 1864, California Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences

The Opposition Line of Steamers.

Several of the yeomanry of the old States, who have come here to purchase farms and become citizens of our golden land, have called at our "Reading Room," to report to us the condition of things on the "other side," crops, currency, etc. These new comers were passengers in the "People's' Line," and from them we learn that they were highly satisfied with the conveniences, food, treatment, etc. Two of our informers tell us that they have been here in former years, and they know the condition of "Ocean Steamers." They aver, also, that the "People's Line" has as many comforts and accommodations as any line of steamers that ever crossed the two oceans for the Pacific slope. Passengers have called on us, and written to us, who were on the America, who speak of Capt. Morton and his officers, as all that could be desired from passengers in their efforts to make the voyage comfortable and pleasant. Passengers, too, on the Moses Taylor, on her last trip, Feb. 9th, speak in high terms of Capt. Blethen and his officers, and all join in commending these steamers as great aids in advancing the people's interests. These new comers, too, say that were it not for the "People's Line," the People of the other States could not come here in such numbers, for the price of passage always advances in price when the "Opposition Line" is not up, and thus retards immigration. Passengers in particular, that have recently arrived, are agents, looking for homesteads for many more immigrants that wait their reports back borne, and all these new comers will take passage in the "People's Line," they having been written to to that effect by those who come on in this line. From these facts it is evident that amid all the excitement, pro and con, about ocean steamers, the "People's Line" is gaining favor every trip, and the great mass of the people are determined to patronize them.

The Moses Taylor, since her last arrival, has been greatly improved by extensive repairs, newly painted, newly furnished, carpeted, etc., with many other conveniences and comforts for the passengers, so as to make this steamer one of the most commodious and elegant on the coast. The ability, skill,and gentlemanly courtesy of Captain Blethen then is unanimously admitted, and with every additional comfort of an abundant supply of the best of provisions, the Moses Taylor, thus newly arranged, is ready for a speedy and pleasant trip on the 23d inst. And to I. K. Roberts, Esq., the agent, who has won, by his energy and courtesy, the people's good will, our State is indebted for it continued accession of new comers, and a low price of passage. Most certainly, for the people's sake, and the development of our State, we wish success to the People's Line.

The Pioneer Line

April 16, 1853, Daily Alta California, San Francisco, California

Shipping Correspondence

New York, March 21st: The only new ship now loading here for your port if the clipper Highflyer, owned by Mr. David Ogden and others. She is 180 feet long, 38 wide, and 25 deep, and registers 1200 tons. Her builders are Messrs. Currier &. Townsend, of Newburyport. She is a noble three-deck ship, and her builders say they are not afraid of comparing her with any New York ship, either for finishing or fastening. She is commanded by Capt Gordon B. Waterman, formerly of the ship St. Patrick.

Steamships.Steamships.Among the other vessels up for San Francisco are the Shooting Star and the Atalanta. The Shooting Star is a Boston vessel, and arrived here on the 27th ult, in 106 days from Shanghai, which was a most excellent passage, though not the shortest. The Atalanta is a Baltimore craft, and arrived here on the 10th from Canton, in 64 days, which is the best time ever made from that place. Unfortunately the pilot got her ashore on the Romer Shoal in bringing her in, but she was got off without damage. She has just completed her first voyage. They are both engaged in Mr. John Ogden's Pioneer Line, a gentleman who has sent more beautiful clippers off to your city than any other half dozen firms put together. His line boasts of the Wings of the Morning, Tingqua, Flying Fish, Wild Pigeon, and other first-class clipper ships.

Regular Dispatch Line (G. B. Post & Company, San Francisco)

July 2, July 6 and July 7, 1854, Daily Alta California. Advertisement for the Regular Dispatch Line, clipper schooner Supply (cited as both 170 tons and 210 tons), Chapman, to be dispatched for Honolulu on July 8, 1854.

    (Notes:
    Chapman's first name is not included, however it's likely Benjamin Franklin Chapman of Turner Chapman & Co. of San Francisco and Tahiti who ran a regular monthly mail service between those ports in the 1870s.
    In June 1851, September 27 1851, and dates in 1852, the Supply, Captain G. Hoseason, sailed between Liverpool and Adelaide and Sydney, Australia. We find no mention of the Supply after July 1854.)

Marks bearing the name of sailing ships used by the G. B. Post & Company of San Francisco for its forwarding service are the best known examples of San Francisco packet marks. The Regular Despatch Line was formed by G. B. Post in San Francisco and R. Coady and others in Honolulu to operate a regular schedule between Honolulu and San Francisco. This service was inaugurated on January 6, 1855 with the sailing of the Frances Palmer from San Francisco and January 29 with her sailing the return trip from Honolulu to San Francisco.

The line initially had two vessels: The Frances Palmer (Captain John Paty) and the Yankee (Captain James Smith, 1800-1877, mentioned in Mark Twain's Roughing It.

March 29, 1855, Advertisement: Captain J. A. Sawyer will be sailing for the line from San Francisco to Hawaii.

In 1861, the ships were the Yankee, the clipper bark Comet, and the Speedwell. In 1862, the line advertised the Yankee, George W. Clayton, Commander, leaving for Honolulu on February 3.

June 1862: Bark Comet, Captain James Smith, between Honolulu and San Francisco and the Speedwell, Captain John Paty. June 14, 1862: Arrival of the bark Speedwell, 14 days from San Francisco.

In 1864, The Hawaiian Packet Line joined the Regular Dispatch Line in offering scheduled sailing packet service between Hawaii and the mainland, and those two lines combined had six vessels transporting cargo and passengers: the schooner E. L. Frost, bark Fanny Major, bark Frances Palmer, schooner General Pierce, schooner Restless, schooner Vaquero and bark Yankee.

In 1883 and 1884, ads in the Daily Alta California, San Francisco, advertising the bark Kalakaua, Miller Master, as leaving for Hawaii taking freight and providing superior cabin and steerage accommodations. Apply to J. C. Merrill & Co., 207 California Street. April 1885 ads included the "new and beautiful A. 1 clipper barque Frances Palmer, Captain John Paty" with "superior stateroom and cabin accommodations and upper and lower Saloons fitted expressly for the comfort and convenience of passengers. Apply to G. B. Post & Co., Cunningham's Block, Front Street."

Turner, Chapman and Co.

July 2, July 6 and July 7, 1854, Daily Alta California. Advertisement for the Regular Dispatch Line, clipper schooner Supply (cited as both 170 tons and 210 tons), Chapman, to be dispatched for Honolulu on July 8, 1854.

    Notes:
    In June 1851, September 27 1851, and dates in 1852, the "Supply," Captain G. Hoseason, sailed between Liverpool and Adelaide and Sydney, Australia. Captain Hoseason continued to command other vessels in South Pacific waters. We find no mention of the "Supply" after July 1854. Chapman's first name is not included, however it's likely Benjamin Franklin Chapman, Turner Chapman & Co. of San Francisco and Tahiti who ran a regular monthly mail service between those ports in the 1870s.

Turner & Chapman also owned the brigs Tahiti, Nautilus, the City of Papeete, ran a mail service between Tahiti and San Francisco, and owned a trading house at Tahiti. Chapman is noted as commander of the vessels sailing between Tahiti and San Francisco.

In March 1873, the New Zealand Herald reported: There is a regular monthly mail service from Tahiti to San Francisco. The vessels sail from the former place about the 4th of each month, and from the latter between the 17th and 20th. Messrs. Turner, Chapman and Co. of San Francisco and Tahiti, are the contractors. The voyage usually occupies about thirty days ingoing up, and a little over two-thirds of the time for the return to the island.

Chapman left New London when gold was discovered in California. He sailed around the Horn in a small vessel. A few years later during a severe winter on the Pacific Coast, he visited the Sandwich Islands and was so impressed with their beauty, he made his home there. When Captain Chapman died at age 76, he had been in the general merchandise business with Turner for 26 years.


 

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Sources: As noted on entries and through research centers including National Archives, San Bruno, California; CDNC: California Digital Newspaper Collection; San Francisco Main Library History Collection; and Maritime Museums and Collections in Australia, China, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Wales, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, etc.

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